Regency_Era

In Jane Austen’s time which is like late 1700s, the leisure for women was mostly focused on family, home, domestic duties and responsibilities. For instance women would have to take care of the children, other activities like notably tea drinking among the middle class. If hosting a dinner, women should pick out the menu, arrange the seating areas and entertainment for the night. Reading was also a vital area of leisure, as books and novels became readily available for the women audience and was cheaper; the piano was another popular feature of domestic leisure as it was a huge form of entertainment, usually ladies were ask to play the piano at social gatherings and parties. However, once a woman was married her role was considered manager of the household, and she had much less time than before to walk and talk with former friends. Women were usually restricted by their husbands or other paternal influences, they were kept in domestic spheres. Many women took the opportunity of the outdoors to engage in courtship and flirtation. Another leisure activity that was well- liked was attending the balls and social parties, where women could dress up, get acquainted with more people especially men, if in need of a husband. Dancing was a favourite past time during balls and parties. Attending balls promoted socialisation, as socialising was another healthy activity of leisure, the women got to gossip with other women too, also communicating with letters was an effective mean for keeping in touch. For male middle working class people, the leisure mainly included sports like traditional game balls and different activities like gambling a. Also Cricket was a common and popular game played amongst the men. A lot of men on their free time go on hunting trips and shooting trips. Also the middle class built their own social groups and participated in many sports as the upper class did such as lawn tennis and croquet. The only place men and women from different social classes mingled together were at music halls and sometimes the theatres. Usually the upper class people do not want to mingle with the lower classes. Travelling was another popular leisure, they travelled in carriages. Sewing and knitting were a major past time for women. Usually the middle class family would have their own library which men often like Mr Bennet retire to it. Also the library was vital for women too, as they could have read the epistolary novel’s which was very helpful for women when needing advices.